God's Step Children

God's Step Children (1938)

Naomi, a light-skinned Black child, is abandoned by her mother and raised by the virtuous Mrs. Saunders. When the girl's fixation with whiteness turns her against her own race, she is sent to a convent. Hopelessly in love with her adoptive brother Jimmie, Naomi consents to marry his friend, but is repulsed by his darker skin and unrefined ways.

Date of release
1938-05-01
TMDB
6.0 / 10 (7)
Runtime
1h 10m
Genres
Drama
Director
Oscar Micheaux

Casting

Interesting facts

God's Step Children is a 1938 American drama film directed by Oscar Micheaux. The film is inspired by a combination of elements shared from two previously released Hollywood productions, Imitation of Life and These Three.

Production

The American Film Institute's catalog reports that some original material was removed from the film after censors raised objections. Some of the excised scenes featured more insight into child Naomi's hatred toward black people and her desire to be white. Other footage includes adult Naomi with a white husband after she tries to pass as white (at the film's climax), only to be rejected by him when he learns of her black heritage.

The film's script is based on a short treatment titled "Naomi Negress!" written by Alice B. Russell, the wife of director Oscar Micheaux who plays Mrs. Saunders.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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